Swede to coach first Somalia bandy team

Published måndag 13 maj 2013 kl 14.53

Per Fosshaug. Foto: Claudio Bresciani / SCANPIX.

Somalia's first ever national team in bandy will be led by Swedish veteran Per Fosshaug, who will coach Somali residents in Borlänge, central Sweden, with the hope of helping them make it to the world championships in Russia early next year.

"Lots of Somalis have moved to Borlänge, and this is part of an integration project started by Borlänge bandy," said Fosshaug, who played in nine world cups for Sweden during his long career on ice. "That's how it all began," he told Swedish Radio.

Bandy, which resembles field hockey played on ice, is a popular sport in Sweden.

The team, picked from the roughly 3,000 Somali residents in Borlänge, will start training during the winter for the B-tournament at the 2014 world championships in Irkutsk, Russia.

"We have a long way to go and it's a project that will span over a long time. We will see how things develop, I will meet the players for the first time on Monday," Fosshaug said.